


One for the Road

by queengabby



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: Friendship, Humor, Iron Bull crushing on everyone, M/M, Platonic Cuddling, Storytelling, an ode to Varric's Kirkwall bffs, kickass Cassandra being kickass without saying literally anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-04-08 13:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4306641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queengabby/pseuds/queengabby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inquisitor is having trouble dealing with his old ghosts. "You know, this reminds me of a story." Varric muses, using his free hand to scratch at the scruff on his face. A loud bristling scrape was the only noise in the tent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One for the Road

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pups](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=pups).



> this is a gift for a Gay Pup who wanted to see their qunari Inquisitor Vaaron get his damn snuggle on with the hairy dwarf that we all know and luv. I was offered a million dollars but I am evidently a generous God.

Vaaron was a long way from home. On most occasions, the qunari was able to ignore such feelings. He would go make potions, or help Master Dennet move the hay for the mounts, or discuss the best (and worst) books in the library with Dorian. He tried to keep himself busy, that's what he was best at, and it's what he preferred.

Unfortunately, when you're camped in the middle of the Emerald Graves, there isn't much to do. Avoiding giants, and running around looking for ancient glyphs could only really be done effectively when it was light outside. Vaaron didn't like how quickly it turned dark.

"You can stop pacing anytime now," Varric said by the fire, wiping one of Bianca's hinges and inspecting the spring. "I'm getting a bit dizzy watching you."

"I didn't know I had that effect on people." Vaaron joked, and Varric smirked in reply. The qunari sighed, finally giving his feet a rest. He watched Cassandra a bit in the distance, practicing her sword fighting on a straw dummy found at a mercenary camp. (Which they subsequently raided and made their own)

"Worrying about something?" The dwarf asked and Vaaron let out a short laugh.

"You'll have to be more specific, I worry about a lot of things." He corrected himself. "A lot of people."

"Seems like we pick the same type of friends then: worrisome, accident-prone, and-"

Cassandra chopped the head off the practice dummy.

"Slight anger issues."

"You're friends with Cassandra?"

"No, _you're_ friends with Cassandra. I've got enough angry friends from Kirkwall, I'm filled up in that category I'm afraid."

"And the other categories? Are they taken?"

Varric gave the qunari a look he couldn't quite decipher, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared, and was replaced with another smirk. "Don't worry, your Inquisitorialness, I include you in my list when I talk about friends."

"Hopefully that nickname isn't the one on the list."

"I won't make promises I can't keep."

Vaaron laughed, looking down at the fire between them. The silence stretched on.

"I'm worried about Bull, I guess." Vaaron finally admitted. "That dragon hunt was a bit ill planned, and now he's got a dislocated shoulder because we weren't prepared."

"I think you mean, Bull has a dislocated shoulder because he's got a thing for dragons and wanted to give it a hug."

Vaaron scoffed, knowing that the dwarf was trying to diffuse his guilt with humour. He wouldn't admit it was working.

Vaaron had to hold Bull down while Cassandra pushed his arm back into the socket. It wasn't a pleasant experience for anyone. Well, except maybe for Bull -- since he's always admired Cassandra for being a warrior, and didn't mind her giving him a little pain.

"I'll take what I can get." Bull had said to Vaaron, after his arm was wrapped in a sling and he was lying in one-man tent. Vaaron had shaken his head, giving Bull a lingering kiss before telling him to get some rest. They were both too soft.

"You worry too much about him. He'll be fine." Varric reassured Vaaron again, bringing him back to the present.

Vaaron hadn't exactly told the dwarf the whole truth. The part about how Bull had found out about how much Vaaron liked the dwarf, and how much Bull had mercilessly teased him about it.

"Is it the chest hair?" Bull had asked one evening, a grin on his face. Vaaron could barely look at the other qunari, opting to look at the bottom of his empty mug instead. His face was hot, and he couldn't bear it.

"I don't mean anything serious, you know that. I just --" he sighed, tried again. "He's a lot of what I wish I could be."

"Loud? Cheeky?"

"Outspoken." Vaaron clarified, elbowing Bull in the side. "He's charming, even you can't deny it."

"Vaaron?" Varric asked, the qunari jolting in his seat, surprised that he his mind had wandered again.

"It's getting late and I'm going to the tent. Cassandra is taking first watch."

"Right." Vaaron replied, clearing his throat.

"Come on, you should get some rest. I won't let my tent buddy stay out in the cold." Varric joked, stepping into the slightly larger tent, setting himself up on the right side, putting Bianca next to where his head would lay.

Vaaron sighed, looked at the embers that were left from their fire, and followed Varric.

The dwarf was quick, to say the least. Already out of his jacket, and bundled under his blankets. His boots were at the foot of the tent, and his necklace was laying on his gloves by Bianca.

Vaaron took off the bulky parts of his armor, left in his soft underclothes so as to not feel uncomfortable while he slept. His staff was nearby, just in case.

They were both silent for a while, the two of them staring up at the top of the tent.

"Wish it wasn't so cold, we could've slept outside." Vaaron mumbled. He missed it -- something to distract him.

Varric didn't reply, and he thought the dwarf was asleep before he heard a chuckle.

"Yeah sounds like a plan, just lay outside in the middle of enemy territory with no buffer between them and my snoring."

Vaaron chuckled. "You don't snore -- a lot."

"Hawke would say otherwise." The dwarf sighed.

Vaaron felt his eyes closing, and then he soon drifted off.

It wasn't long before the nightmares started again: blood, broken horns, qunari fighting, biting, scratching, the target so close just an inch more and his heart would stop -- ice magic seeping into his chest and then

Vaaron gasped, clinging to the sheets around him, tears in his eyes, running down toward his temples, he sat up. For a moment, all he could hear was the thumping of his heart, making his ears pound, making his headache.

"Hey, are you alright?" Varric asked, his voice heavy with sleep.

Vaaron had to process the words three times before he realized it was a language he understood -- and a sentence that was directed to him.

"Fine." He replied, his voice strained. He was exhausted.

They sat in silence before he heard Varric shift, and then the dwarf's voice was louder -- he had turned to face him.

"Long way from home?" He asked.

Vaaron let out a hollow laugh. "I wish I was further."

"That bad, huh?"

"Bad enough." Vaaron said, his hands on his face.

There was a pause, and then the rustling of sheets.

"Here." Varric said.

Vaaron squinted, unable to understand what the dwarf was trying to signal.

"I know, I know, you must be shocked I'm offering to cuddle for a while. But this seems like an important time and you're not sleeping otherwise."

Vaaron shook his head, a laugh escaping him despite his exhaustion.

He shimmied closer to Varric, laying on his side, while Varric turned to lay on his back again, one hand behind his head.

"No petting the chest hair though, that will cost you." He joked, and Vaaron let out a genuine laugh that time.

"Thank you." Vaaron mumbled, pulling the sheets a little further up, trying not to hog them. Eventually he gave up, reaching for his own blankets to put on top of them as well.

"You know, this reminds me of a story." Varric started, using his free hand to scratch at the scruff on his face. A loud bristling scrape was the only noise in the tent.

"Are you going to leave me in suspense?" Vaaron asked and Varric snorted.

"No no, I'm trying to gather all my thoughts, it's been a while since it happened."

It was silent again, before Varric cleared his throat and began.

"It was a few years before the chantry explosion. We were all friends back then. Hawke asked a few of us to accompany him to Sundermount. It was Merrill, Aveline, Hawke, and myself."

"Aveline the guard captain?" Vaaron clarified.

"Yeah, she's hard to forget. She was like the doting mother."

"And you're not?" Vaaron said, good natured.

"Ha! Hawke would love that wouldn't he?" Varric continued nonetheless. "Anyway, Merrill and Hawke had come to a slight disagreement over the Dalish. It's a long story but Hawke had taken responsibility for the Keeper's death. Merrill was still pretty sensitive about the whole thing."

Varric paused, brushing his hand through his hair.

"Merrill didn't want to sleep in the same tent as Hawke, so he asked if he could bunk down with me." Varric laughed suddenly at the memory. "If I could tell you anything about the Champion, it's that he is as talkative as a Chantry Sister. We didn't sleep, he talked my ear off the whole night, snuggled up like we are now." Varric groaned. "Next morning I felt like I had a hangover. Aveline told me she could hear us -- I was glad we didn't declare any major secrets." The dwarf sighed. "Merrill and Hawke made up that morning, though Hawke had to send me a few fruit baskets for stealing away a good night's sleep. I collapsed when I got back to the Hanged Man, only waking up when Fenris came over to play Wicked Grace."

"You used to play Wicked Grace that often, huh?"

"Every night. Fenris gave me a bit of sympathy but he was still smirking. He's been in the same boat a few times, I imagine. Everyone has."

"Are Merrill and Hawke still together?"

Varric hummed. "Physically, no. Hawke's helping the Grey Wardens, and Merrill is with the elves, trying to protect them from slavers. But they still keep in touch -- we all do."

"Contrary to what you told Cassandra." Vaaron joked and he heard Varric chuckle.

"That was a good story, Varric. Thank you."

"Anytime, your Inquisitorialness."

"Promise to tell me another one sometime?"

"I promise, your Inquisitorialness."

"Just Vaaron is fine."

"Okay, Just Vaaron."

After a brief exchange of chuckles, they both fell asleep.

Morning came with the crack of the tent flap. Iron Bull laughed when Vaaron groggily woke up. The bearded qunari realized he had been holding Varric like a doll, clinging to him the entire night while the dwarf snored softly.

It took a long time before the heat left Vaaron's face. But it wouldn't be the last sleepover he had.

Varric had promised him another story.


End file.
